Home
American StudiesDirector: Allen, RayLocation: 415 Whitehead Hall Phone: 718-951-5655 American studies is an interdisciplinary field that explores the American experience through the study of history, literature, and the arts. Drawing on faculty members from various departments who are versed in the theories and methods of literary criticism, historiography, anthropology, folklore, musicology, art history, and ethnic and gender studies, the Brooklyn College American studies program investigates the history and culture of the United States. Courses vary from those probing such crucial historical periods as the Frontier era, the Depression, and the 1960s, to those focused on the study of such expressive genres as immigrant literature, folklore, popular culture, and musical performance. The program offers a bachelor of arts degree in American studies, a bachelor of arts degree in adolescence education for social studies teachers, a minor in American studies, a minor in American music and culture, and a concentration for education majors in the following programs: early childhood education teacher (birth-grade 2); childhood education teacher (grades 1-6). The program embraces a diverse interdisciplinary approach. We assume that the American studies student is interested not simply in the literature of the United States, but in how that literature relates to American music, art, film, history, and religion and in how these influences collectively reflect and shape our national attitudes and values. The American studies student will explore the multifarious strands of American culture and will examine the forces of race, ethnicity, class, and gender, which form the student's own identity and contribute to his or her place in the larger mosaic of American society. Graduates of the program work in a variety of professions including education, journalism, law, arts administration, and public policy.
|
